GARDENING FOR LITTLE GIRLS 



tliem well watered in order to get the best results. 



The latest method I have had recommended for 

 growing sweet peas, — ^bnt which I have not tried, — 

 is to have the soil just as carefully prepared, but 

 then to rake it smooth, make a straight drill only- 

 half an inch deep, and plant 3 seeds every 6 inches 

 in the row. If all three grow, pull up the two weak- 

 est, leaving only the best plant every 16 inches 

 apart. This way, — with plenty of water and cul- 

 tivation, is said to produce the very finest kind of 

 flowers. You might try a few on the side. 



During the hot weather put grass clippings 

 around the roots to help keep them moist and pro- 

 tected from the hot sun. Cut the flowers every day 

 in order to prolong their blooming. 



A word about names, though, before we go a 

 step farther. I intended at first to give you only 

 the common names, despite the protests of a very 

 good friend, — an English botanist. To clinch her 

 argument one day, she exclaimed with considerable 

 heat, ^^Why, what they call ^baby's breath' here 

 on Long Island might be 'infant's sneeze' up in 

 Connecticut! But if you tell the children it's real 

 name is GYPSOPHILA, they'll never be mis- 

 taken." 



And later, when I found that foxglove (orig- 

 inally Folk's glove, alluding to the little folk," or 



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